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Junior News – 10 March 2023 |
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“If children grow up not knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it, and if they don’t protect it, who will?” (Sir David Attenborough). What an egg-citing week we have had! Observing the arrival and welcoming our newest members of our Junior School community this week has been a truly collaborative and joyful experience. Welcoming new life into the world is always exciting but to experience this alongside children who are so incredibly awestruck by it is infectious. At one point this week it would have been hard to be able to state whether the staff or children were most excited about our fluffy new friends. There have been so many learning points for the children to benefit from and their curiosity has been really encouraging.
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I am looking forward to next week as the learning opportunities continue, facilitated by this experience. The children will be able to handle the chicks and observe their swift growth and development before they leave us at the end of the week. Interactive, memorable experiences in a child’s educational journey contribute to their enjoyment of learning; it has been truly wonderful to observe the children’s excitement and eagerness to continue their learning. Miss Hair |
Dates for your diary |
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KS2 Outdoor Learning Monday 13 March – Year 4 Class Assemblies – Please join us from 8.20am for your child’s assembly Wednesday 15 March – Year 6 Forest School open sessions for parents/family members to attend Year 1 – 16 March 1.45-3.15pm |
Other dates to remember Hatching Experience – Monday 6 to 17 March Swimming Watching Weeks and Galas Year 6 Gala – Friday 19 May – 10.30am |
Years 3 and 4 Book Club |
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Please note there will be no Book Club for Years 3 and 4 on 14 March. |
Northampton High School Dance Festival |
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We are looking forward to hosting the Dance Festival. The event will run from 5:30pm to 7:45pm on Wednesday 29 March 2023 with an interval at approximately 6:30pm. The doors will open at 5:15pm. Junior School pupils will be dismissed to their parents/guardians at the end of the interval from their classrooms. If you haven’t already done so, please book your tickets here. If you would like your daughter to join you to watch the second half of the show, we would ask you to book a ticket for her, as this event will include designated seating. |
Summer Term Clubs |
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The Clubs sign up for summer term is open. Please log in using your daughter’s details in front of their planner.
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News from our classrooms: Nursery and Pre School |
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In Nursery this week our tuff tray has been a little messy allowing us to explore with our senses. The custard was very sweet smelling and cold to touch, the beans were bumpy and the finger paints felt like slime. We placed paper over the paint to keep our mark making patterns forever. Our story this week has been ‘Oi frog!’ The girls were encouraged to listen to the words that sounded the same. Their listening skills have been fantastic and as the week has progressed, they have been able to fill in the gaps with the correct word that I have intentionally left out. Thank you to everyone who joined us at Forest School, sorry it wasn’t as we had planned. |
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Excitement has filled the air with the arrival of the eggs. The girls were intrigued and interested to learn what will happen to the eggs, and the all important question, when will they be chicks. We were lucky enough not to have to wait too long as on arrival to Pre School the next day, two chicks had hatched. We have also been lucky enough to have endless amounts of snow, so it was coats on and off we went out to capture the moment. Imagination filled the air with name writing/mark making, footprints, snowballs, snow people and so many more opportunities.
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News from our classrooms: Reception |
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The week started with some very ‘eggciting’ arrivals in the entrance hall. We counted 10 eggs and then overnight on Tuesday 2 of them hatched. The class are enjoying watching the hatching and how to keep the chicks, and being very observant of any changes. Our phonics this week has been the sounds ‘air’ ‘ure’ and ‘er’. We have thought about people who help us in school, and decided that maybe the most important people were those who make our food for us! We had a great ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the school kitchen and saw the huge freezers and fridges and massive pans!
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In Maths this week we have been learning about 3D solid shapes, making a cube from a net and turning it into a dice for one activity. We were also very fortunate to have a talk from Mrs Sira who is a dentist. She brought along her ‘pink panther’ to show us how to brush our teeth properly and to help us to think about healthy eating. It was a very informative talk and the class got a sticker and goody bag.
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Year 1 Art and Design Focus |
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Year 1 have enjoyed learning a new skill this week – quilling. The girls listened carefully to the instructions and watched Mrs Shah modelling this skill with great interest before practising the craft themselves. Quilling is a simple technique with paper and can be used to produce intricate and creative pieces.
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We can’t show you the outcomes of the girls’ hard work yet as they are to be gifted on Mothering Sunday, but we can share that we are very impressed with the creativity of these pieces. |
Year 2 Art and Design Focus |
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For the last few weeks, Year 2 have been studying the work of L.S. Lowry in both their Art and DT lessons. In Art, the girls are working hard to create an A3 collage, painting the backgrounds of hills and sky using different shades and tones of green. They then drew the terrace houses and factory buildings using rulers and pencils, before colouring them in. Next lesson we will, be focusing on drawing the people. For DT, the girls have used the same stimulus but are recreating it as a fabric picture using felt. The felt pieces are being joined together with stiches, glue or staples. |
Year 3 Art and Design Focus |
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In DT, Year 3 have been investigating spices as part of our India topic. We created our own spice mixes by tasting the spices with apple and banana, and then we will use the mix to add to the potato curry we make next week. |
Year 4 Art and Design Focus |
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In their Art lessons, the Y4 girls have worked hard to produce collages in the style of Hundertwasser. He loved nature, hated straight lines and would use facial features in his landscapes. He used bold, bright colours creating lollipop trees and curved lines for his architecture.
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In DT, the girls are creating their mock ups of an interactive pop up scene for their favourite reading book. They have some awesome ideas and I can’t wait to see their final pieces. |
Year 5 Art and Design Focus |
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Year 5 have been enjoying their unit on abstract artists. The girls have completed their own pieces based on Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miro, and are now working on ‘The Ten Largest’ by the fabulous Swedish artist, Hilda af Klint. |
Year 6 Art and Design Focus |
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Year 6 have worked incredibly hard in our Fish topic. The graceful and elegant form and movement and dappled pattern of koi fish has inspired us to create some fantastic clay models and pictures. |
News from outside of our classrooms: Year 6 trip to Harry Potter - Warner Bros Studios |
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On Tuesday, Year 6 transformed from Muggles to witches and wizards when we visited the home of Harry Potter – Warner Bros Studios. The visit started when Tami – celebrating her birthday – opened the grand wooden doors to the Great Hall. A fantastic time was had by all as we wandered amongst the sets and props from the iconic films and learnt all about visual and special effects. For many, the highlight was seeing the very terrifyingly lifelike dragon set light to Gringotts Bank, and we were all fascinated by the large, detailed model of Hogwarts School.
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We walked through the home of the dreaded Dursleys, stepped aboard the Knight Bus and rode Hagrid’s famous motorbike and side car. We enjoyed a simulated ride on the Hogwarts Express and learned how green screens are used to create the impressive Quidditch matches. Scarlett and Shreya provided an excellent commentary around the studios, sharing their love and knowledge of the Harry Potter books and films. We look forward to telling you more about our trip at our class assembly next week! |
The Knight Frank Schools Triathlon Series |
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We are delighted to have been invited to take part in the The Knight Frank Schools Triathlon series, hosted by Oundle School and organised by Restless Development, on Sunday 14 May. 7 events ran last May, with over 6,000 children taking part from 120 prep schools such as Cheam, Cothill House, Dulwich Prep, Farleigh, Feltonfleet, Port Regis, St Hughs, The Dragon and Thomas’ Battersea. The children raised an incredible £1.2 million for both the organising charity and each prep school’s chosen charity. The events are for Senior and Junior School pupils in Years 3 to 8 and there has been a fantastic response from schools to date, with both the pupils and parents really enjoying the day. It is first and foremost a fun event, with a team element rather than the normal individual triathlon format. The children form teams of 4, come up with suitably amusing team names, with all 4 teammates performing all 3 disciplines as a relay. This has really appealed, not just to the keen sporting pupils, but also to those who want to give a triathlon a go with their friends in a safe and fun environment. Maya, from Restless Development delivered an assembly for our pupils in Years 3 to 8 on Tuesday 7 February to inform pupils about this fun opportunity. This is a parent-led event, with parents registering the children directly and taking them on the day. Any questions from parents can be sent directly to schoolstriathlon@restlessdevelopment.org. We hope that many of our students will choose to be involved in this fun, physical, charity event. Miss Hair |
Junior Bake Off |
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Save the Date: Parents Afternoon Tea - Friday 7 July |
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We invite you to save the date for this summer’s Parent Afternoon Tea event, which will be taking place on Friday 7 July, from 2 – 3.30pm. The cost for this event will be £15pp, and bookings can be made via ParentPay, with a deadline of Wednesday 31 May. More information will follow over the coming weeks and months, but we do hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a lovely afternoon. Miss Hair |
Turning 'can we?' into 'we can!' - Open Morning, Friday 28 April |
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We look forward to welcoming so many lovely families to our upcoming Open Morning on Friday 28 April. The event promises to be a superb showcase of life at Northampton High School. If you would like to come along, please do feel most welcome, and should you have family, friends, or neighbours keen to visit us, please encourage them to book their place here and join us! Mr Nash |
Community Sessions |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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